To reach the top!
by FacelessMan19
Summary: He wants greatness and to do that he must face many challenges on his journey to become stronger and stronger so that he alone can stand at the top. What made him worthy to be given the title "Monkey King" and who had given him such a title to begin with? A Prologue for Wukong. Rated T just in case.
1. Departure

**(Disclaimer: **I don't own Wukong or anything involving League of Legends that includes other characters and places that I may add in the future, the story is mine though.)

(My first fanfic on Wukong, so yeah... Anywho, I just left it has Kong because he doesn't get the name Wukong until he meets Master Yi from my understanding, ignore me if I'm talking out of my ass. My english is not that good, it's not my first language so there might be *cough* a lot of mistakes with how some words are used. ^^;)

Kong was embraced in the jungle, hidden away from the rest of the world. For hours he continued to punch a tree, poised in the same stance, strengthening himself for the next creature unfortunate enough to cross paths with him. It did not bother him, months he had done the exact same thing every day, he noticed that his skin or rather whatever it is that he is, is able to absorb incoming blows, he felt no physical pain or at least less than the other monkeys. When asking about his origin the sage from his village, using a series of chattering, grunts and hand gestures that only monkeys understood, explained about the rune stone and how Kong was born as an accident. Kong did not hate the sage for telling him the truth, if anything, he was grateful with the power that he has been granted. That's all he needed to know, as long as he had strength and power he would use it to protect his simian brethren.

He had already chipped the tree in several places, pieces of its bark were missing and continued to fly out randomly, some pieces even sticking to his fur but Kong showed no intention to stop, it wasn't enough for him; not even the terrifying creatures of the Plague Jungle creatures beyond imagination were a match, but then if those creatures are no match to him, what is? He desired greatness but he felt incomplete, maybe because he knew, though he didn't want to admit, that beating creatures who only acted on instinct alone was not really that impressive. The sage told him stories of hairless apes able to talk, move, react and adapt to their surroundings like him, the fearsome power that these hairless apes possessed allowed them to conquer vast amounts of land in such short time. This intrigued Kong greatly, he wanted to know more but even the sage's knowledge was limited, he told Kong to seek them out for himself and expand his knowledge. Would they really be more of a challenge? He was even told that they don't treat monkeys or any other primates with any respect, just what are they? He felt disgusted, being told that such creatures were closely related to him.

There were no sounds able to tear him away from his thoughts, unconsciously hitting the tree with more force the more he thought about leaving the jungle to find these creatures and see them first-hand, even the occasional rustle in the bushes, the wildlife coming alive; howls, screeches, chitters, the wind breezing past, he could only concentrate on his thoughts and the sound of his fists hitting the tree.

After a few more minutes Kong had decided he was finished with morning training, he changed his stance, shifting his body sideways with his strong leg stretched back and tensed his muscles, his small frame exerted an aura that only a select few would have. In swift fashion Kong spun his body round, using his weak leg to pivot his body as his other leg connected to the side of the tree, a perfect crescent kick, something he was quite proud of. A few leaves fell then and for a few moments everything went still, no noise, no movement, nothing. It was only broken when the tree had exploded where Kong had kicked it due to the sheer amount of force. He hollered as the tree collapsed on its side, birds from nearby trees flew away from the noise, even predators who thought they would be getting an easy meal scattered when they saw what their would-be dinner had just done, fearing what creature Kong truly is. He had made up his mind, trembling with excitement, he would travel to see how strong these hairless apes, no, these hu-mans really are and show them who deserves to be on top of who.

Kong stretched his body and climbed the nearest tree taking in the fresh air and watched as the sun rose past the mists of the jungle, the glowing orb blinded him but it was a spectacular view nonetheless. A sight he would truly miss.

He leaped from to tree to tree, branch to branch constantly being swallowed by a wave of foliage. He appeared as a brown blur expertly manoeuvering around the jungle, his playground. He jumped on top of a nearby tree as he neared his destination; five of the largest trees in the jungle spaced evenly apart in a circle, a series of vines crafted into bridges and branches from the trees were used to move around the five giants; their distinct thick white trunks noticeable to all in the jungle, it took a good twenty minutes to circle round the trunk of one of the trees, it surely made all the surrounding trees look like grass in comparison, the large roots protruding the earth looked almost alien and below the trees was the forest floor housing the corpses and skeletons of monkeys unfortunate enough to fall as well as the predators awaiting their next meal.

He grabbed on to a nearby vine and pulled it to see how durable it was... it wasn't. As soon as he pulled, the vine snapped away from the tree and fell; Kong shook his head and groaned,

"Nimbus, come here." he commanded.

He took a step in the air when a golden cloud appeared underneath where his foot was, he took another step forward and more of the cloud appeared, holding him up perfectly. Kong gestured the cloud to move up the tree and the cloud did as its master commanded. Kong laid back on the cloud, it was a strange sensation, the cloud was firm but even with a small amount of force Kong's hand went through the cloud, as soon as he took his hand away the cloud gathered on that spot and the hole was gone, he didn't question a lot of things in life and this cloud was one of those. A few moments later, he had finally reached a large branch decorated in berries and beads, he stepped off the cloud and it dissipated slowly. It was still early in the morning, many of the monkeys were still asleep as he silently crept past each body but he knew that '_he_' would be up. The smell of burning bugs filled Kong's nose, walking towards the horrible stench he met the monkey he wanted to see.

The sage was an old creature, his fur looked weary and grey, his face wrinkled and expressionless, he was no different from the other elderly monkeys; though his body may have been weary, his eyes were full of life, full of deep knowledge and wisdom. The sage used a long oak branch as a sort of staff and walking stick, apart from him and Kong none of the other monkeys liked walking on their hind legs as much. He noticed Kong's presence and hobbled towards him with a smile; Kong kneeled down and bowed his head.

"Hello, great sage."

The sage gestured him to sit and he did so.

"I... I have come to tell you that I wish to go on journey to find these humans and see for myself whether they would be a worthy challenge for me," Kong explained.

The sage was still silent, tapping his foot impatiently for Kong to continue.

"I-It's just that... I'm never going to improve by staying here! The creatures here are too weak; I need more of a challenge. I know I'm being selfish for leaving but-but I want to get stronger for all of you..."

Kong looked at the sage, his face still expressionless but his eyes showed pride in hearing about Kong's ambition. The sage gestured how many days and nights it will take to reach the humans and the lack of food he will eventually deal with.

"I know but... I will endure."

The sage then gestured about the wiliness of humans and Kong's own naiveté. Kong was silent and kept his head down, the sage grunted and grabbed his walking stick with both hands and smacked it weakly on Kong's head.

"Uh, ow?" said the confused Kong.

The sage patted Kong on the shoulder and handed him his walking stick, the sage then sat on the floor trying to muster words like the humans, in the end all he could say was,

"You... go... village... proud... I... proud..."

With a smile, the sage ushered him to go. Kong nodded keeping a tight grip on the sage's staff, he whistled and Nimbus had formed in front of him, Kong jumped on to the cloud and pointed East, sitting down on the cloud he looked back one last time at his village, he did regret not saying goodbye to the others but the sage can handle explaining the news. He lay back on the cloud, looked at the staff and laughed, the thought of meeting the humans excited him and he had just received the blessing of the sage.

"This'll be a fun journey don't you think so Nimbus?" Kong said; stroking the cloud as the cloud drifted towards the sunrise.


	2. Discovery and Paragon

Kong yawned as he brought himself up groggily from his restless slumber, the wind brushed his fur back, insects constantly holding on to his fur for protection, Kong sniffed himself and groomed his fur before devouring them greedily, not a care whether they were poisonous or not. He couldn't help it. It's been four days since leaving the Plague Jungles and the only sustenance he had been fortunate enough to get are the desperate insects. He groaned as his stomach grumbled for food and cursed quietly to himself about how he should've been more prepared and this wouldn't have happened.

He looked down at the sage's staff, the only other item he had taken with him on his journey and the memories it held surged in him. He remembered the time he replaced the staff for a broken piece of wood and how the sage almost fell off the edge of a branch before he came and caught the sage to safety, he didn't know that a practical joke would almost become a terrible incident and he was severely punished by not being able to eat peaches for a week. He smiled but the memory was abruptly stopped as his stomach grumbled greedily for food, Kong clutched his stomach and tried to endure the pain of an empty stomach.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't even eat breakfast when I left the village..." he complained to himself.

He complained for several more hours, the cloud, Nimbus, constantly shaking his master to shut up until finally he reached a place called the 'Southern Wastes' and true to its name, it was barren. That was the first thought that crossed Kong's mind. There was no life, non-existent as far as he can tell; no flora, no fauna, no signs of any water source, he noticed that even the wind had mysteriously died, the Sun's increasing intensity, the fact that it was getting harder to breath and more importantly, no sign of humans. Nothing but rocks and sand that stretched to the horizon and had no intention of stopping. In his mind something just felt... off about this place.

'Is what's known as a desert?' he thought to himself, he sniffed the air for a scent of anything but no luck. 'Strange, the sage said though scarce there are supposed to be cacti growing in the area and there are animals who can survive even in these conditions but its empty, just what is wrong here?'

He kept moving forward but didn't even get twenty meters before he ordered Nimbus to head for a large rock that caught his attention, the cloud followed the order. Kong grabbed the staff as he got off the cloud, walking cautiously around the rock, inspecting it closely. He tapped his knuckles on one part of the rock and then another part; he crouched down and inspected the bottom, once again tapping it with his knuckles. He stood up scratching his chin in deep thought for a few moments before he grabbed the staff with both hands and slammed it on rock. Large pieces of the rock gave way and fell revealing a black metallic object encased inside.

"Whoa..." he stated, awestruck.

He continued to hit the rock, over and over, most of the rock falling off with ease with a few good hits, his breathing was getting heavier and heavier but ignored it until finally the black metallic object had been revealed. He let his tail grab hold of the staff as he went to go touch the object; he cautiously touched it with two fingers but pulled back, licking his fingers. The object had been cooked under the rock for many years. It was a strange to Kong, it was a long cylindrical shape with a large hole on one ends, and contained intricate markings on the other. He smiled at his discovery even though he had no idea what it actually was or what use it had, all he knew was that this is something made by the humans, maybe even something to do with the power they possessed and that means he was close.

"Okay Nimbus, time to move!" he shouted with glee, as he hopped back on to the cloud and it sped away faster than normal, it was clear that Nimbus was eager to get out of this wasteland as much as Kong albeit for a different reason. Kong laughed as he looked down at the sea of sand and other rock structure, no doubt more human object hidden underneath them.

* * *

For a few more hours he finally saw the end of sand and what came into picture was a large mountain range, stretching even further than the wasteland. Kong looked up at the tall menacing mountain, its shadow covered everything and its peak covered in what was called snow which is said to be really cold, Kong was grateful at the sound of that after being under the Sun's rays for several hours.

He remembered the sage talking about the mountain before, it was called 'Mount Gargantuan' but then changed to 'Mount Targon', Kong found it strange for humans to change the name of a mountain just like that or that fact that the mountain had to have a name in the first place, but that's not what caught his attention, the sage talked about a tribe of humans called the Rakkor, fierce warriors trained at a young age to only fight and slaughter, to never show forgiveness and to always kill an enemy in sight. This, of course, had peaked Kong's interest, if he could fight just one of these warriors and win then that will prove how weak humans are and he'll be a step closer to greatness and if he loses... he knew how the animal kingdom worked.

A sigh of relief left his mouth as the breeze began to blow but it grew stronger and stronger, this usually wouldn't have bothered Kong but the lack of food or water for days had finally taken its toll on the monkey's body. He lurched forward, slapping himself trying to stay awake, concentrating hard to just last a little longer, a little farther but the exhaustion had caught up, the cloud dissipated and the tired monkey fell. His mind could not react fast enough as he just continued to fall head-first towards the mountain, he saw his staff being blown away in another direction thanks to the strong winds, he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes as he continued his descent.

"I'm sorry." He apologised quietly.

A loud crash echoed in the mountain range, a monkey-shaped crater was left in place of where Kong fell not even able to crawl away, he stayed flat on his back, eyes still shut as footsteps marching in unison can be heard from a distance, getting closer and closer until coming to a halt, then only a pair of feet walking over towards Kong's body.

"An ape? What is it doing so far up north?" the voice asked.

'North?' Kong thought in a daze. 'I thought that stupid cloud took me east, when did he change our course?'

"It's not an ape, clearly it is a monkey, it has a tail." responded another.

"Shut up! I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Well I-"

The other voice was interrupted, the sickening sound of flesh being sliced open and gasping breaths from the other person then a thud of metal.

"Would anyone else like to voice their 'opinion'?"

Silence, no one dared to talk back.

"Did it fall from somewhere? That's the only explanation for the crater." the voice continued on.

"Sir is it dead?" a different voice asked.

"No, breathing by the look of it. A strong creature to survive the fall. "

Kong could feel his body being rolled face up but tried to stay still.

"Ugh, I take it back."

He could feel a set of fingers near his eyes, the temptation of biting off this man's fingers was rising but Kong held it inside.

"Tears, disgusting. Seems our friend hear got himself lost, a shame for him but don't worry boys, we'll put him out of his misery soon enough because today it seems that we are having good meat tonight!"

The others cheered the sound of metal clashing into one another and celebratory chanting resounded in Kong's ears, he can feel his hands and legs being bound to some sort of wood and lifted up in the air.

"Sir what should we do with Merdos's body?" asked one of the voices.

"Let's just say this creature killed him because he was weak." answered the commander.

"Let's head back home with haste."

* * *

Kong allowed himself to be taken as a hostage by the strangers, with any luck they'll keep him alive until they reach their home. His wrists and legs were sore from the rope; he was still in a daze and was in no condition to fight. He opened one of his eyes still pretending to be unconscious and caught a glimpse of the men carrying him; there were five of them, they all wore metal all over their body, even on their heads, Kong thought it was used as protection of some sort from attacks, each one carried a spear and a shield apart from the two carrying him but one of the men stood out amongst the others, the man in front leading the pack; his helmet had large red plumes on it unlike the others, he wore a navy-blue cape and his shield and spear were far larger than the other men. He gave an aura that demanded loyalty and respect from the other men; he only caught a glimpse of the stone-faced man when he looked towards Kong, his eyes were more fearsome than most of the creatures the Plague Jungles could conjure up. Kong immediately shut his eye to avoid suspicion. He felt his spine tingle but whether it was fear or anxiousness or even excitement was too hard to tell, it was like he was just a log that had been swept by river and had been left to go with the flow of things.

The trip to the warriors' home was painful, the warriors were silent for the rest of the trip, he wanted to get any information from the humans; surroundings, creatures that lived in the area, anything at all, but none talked, not even a whisper until they had finally reached their destination. Kong can hear murmurings from other people; turning his head to the side he was surprised at the crowd of humans that had gathered to observe him, he looked down to see children though he found it strange that none held the innocence a normal monkey child has, he wondered whether the humans' lack of respect for other beings comes at a young age. He saw the huge stone structures that the humans used as homes and was amazed at how surprisingly resourceful humans are, being able to use the mountain to carve their homes was an incredible feat alone but each home had a different design and feel to it that it must've taken years for even one to be finished.

The warriors continued on, marching inside the largest, most prominent building in the village. The doors, also made from stone, opened with an echo allowing entry for everyone. They had finally come to a halt, the men put his body down and bowed, even the stone-faced man bowed, whoever the person who can make that man bow must be a fearsome foe. Kong noticed that they had stopped in the middle of a large room; there was still a large crowd of people that had followed them, it seemed that everything in the room was made from the same stone, even the floor, there were six large pillars about twenty meters high on each side of the building obviously keeping the structure from falling, on a seat at the far end of the room was a man similar to the leader of the pack who looked to be of great importance but what confused Kong was that the man lacked ferocity or leadership, at least not as much as the stone-faced man. His eyes also focused on what the man had in his hands, he held a large familiar looking stick and on the other a knife, sharpening one end of the stick. Kong clenched his fists, he could never mistake it for anything else, it was the sage's staff and for that man to defile it, Kong was sure to make him pay.

"Jagen, leader of the Kor, I bring you a creature who has strayed far from its normal habitat. This creature was strong enough to cross a wasteland only to fall at our territory… how unfortunate. I promise you, this creature's meat will taste like those of the meat eaten by the gods!" the stoned-face man announced, as everyone around him cheered.

"Stand Pantheon, my brother," commanded Jagen, Pantheon did so. "Explain to me why the creature is still alive."

"We found him near the base of the mountain, killing this creature that far from the village would have made the meat lost all flavour," lied Pantheon. "He was strong enough to kill Merdos but we were able to subdue him before there were any more casualties and we had also given Merdos a proper burial before arriving back."

"Hmph, Merdos was always a weakling." agreed Jagen. "Very well, release the creature and finish him."

'Now's my chance, I can't mess up now!' thought Kong.

Pantheon grabbed a knife from his side and cut the rope off Kong's hands and feet, almost immediately Kong sprang, launching himself forward at Pantheon's chest, the large man fell from his kick but Kong continued to run forward towards Jagen. Other warriors blocked Kong's path to the their leader but with his dexterity, he was able to dodge and jump out of harm's way, most of their attacks hitting nothing but air, Kong was being fuelled only with will power and adrenaline. One last guard separated him from Jagen; the guard thrust forward clumsily with his spear and Kong easily side-stepped and tripped him up. Jagen had a smug smile as the monkey approached him; Kong stuck his arm out not breaking eye-contact with the leader.

"My staff, if you please." Kong said flatly.

Gasps from the people arose; to hear a creature from a faraway land speak came as a shock to them. Kong didn't bother with the attention he kept his arm stuck out, waiting for Jagen to hand back what was his but he just simply laughed.

"Of course, it's yours to keep forever, that is, if you live." Jagen said condescendingly.

Jagen looked up still with his smug smile; Kong looked up and noticed a figure high up in the air, ready to strike. He quickly grabbed the staff of Jagen as the figure crashed back down to the ground; Kong had just barely gotten out of the way from the point of impact but the surrounding debris that scattered managed to scratch him up badly. Pantheon stood in the middle of the point of impact, he looked at Kong, his eyes were full of hatred and an aura of killing-intent had formed around the man.

"You dare make a fool out of me?! Me! The paragon of the Rakkor. The one known as the Artisan of War?! No-one touches him, he's mine and if anybody kills him or scratches him they're next!"

Kong ran as Pantheon threw his spear at him, missing his leg by a few inches, each time one of his Rakkor brothers would hand him another spear for him to throw. Kong tried to run to the exit but it was blocked with Rakkor warriors, their spears aimed at Kong but none would attack him for fear of what might happen if they broke Pantheon's rule. Kong clutched the staff; he was going to have to fight to escape. Kong ran at Pantheon, ready to strike but his movement was sloppy and the man was faster, Kong raised the staff above his head ready to strike but Pantheon thrust his spear at the monkey, Kong had no choice but to dodge the oncoming barrage of attacks, each time the spear kept getting closer to severely hitting a vital point of Kong's. He jumped backed to give himself some breathing room then lunged forwards, desperate to land a hit but Pantheon bashed his shield hard at Kong, the monkey's body crashed into one of the columns on the side, the air in his lungs escaped him. He stood up and ran up to Pantheon again, Pantheon readied his shield, Kong grabbed the staff at one end and spun wildly at Pantheon, the man chuckled at the monkey's pathetic excuse of an attack and abided his time, when the monkey had become dizzy from the spinning Pantheon bashed him with his shield again, the monkey launched to another one of the pillars.

Kong coughed out blood, his breathing became heavy again, the adrenaline was slowly losing its effect, he needed a way to finish the fight and fast, he looked at the sharpened end of the staff and an idea formed in his mind. He stood up once again as the figure closed in on him and he threw the pointed end of the staff at Pantheon's head, Pantheon blocked the feeble attack, launching the staff in the air, he looked back at where the monkey should have been but he was gone, confused Pantheon looked around when he heard a cheeky laugh from behind, he had been outsmarted by an ape. Kong had managed to get behind Pantheon during the brief moment Pantheon needed to block. He twisted his body around for his kick aimed at the man's abdomen, Pantheon tried to stop the attack with his shield and once again the man was faster and blocked his kick but Kong just smirked, the realisation had not hit Pantheon until his own shield exploded from where the monkey had kicked it and its path continued towards Pantheon's abdomen.

The man stood still, smoke emitting from where he was kicked, everyone was silent until Pantheon dropped to his knees in defeat, everyone in the room looked bewildered at the development, some shook their heads while others cried at the thought of their greatest warrior losing. Jagen was shaken to see the predator become the prey. Kong sat in front of Pantheon, licking his wounds, looking at his defeated opponent.

"What are you waiting for? Kill me!" shouted Pantheon, trying to hide the inhuman pain that has surged around his body.

"Kill? …Why would I do… that? That was… fun… let's do it again… sometime…" wheezed Kong.

Pantheon grabbed the monkey by the chest his eyes still full of anger.

"To let me live now would be the greatest shame I will ever receive."

Kong's eyes widened. Is this a tradition of the Rakkor? Something as cruel as death has to happen to those who lose? Kong shook his head at the thought of killing such a powerful adversary; he was strong, much stronger than anything he had faced and to suddenly lose a formidable foe was something he will not accept.

"No." Kong said flatly, standing up.

Kong heard more mumblings from the crowd; he can see people's anger mounting, constantly not accepting their 'human' tradition.

"No?" asked Pantheon rhetorically, laughing quietly. "You truly are an inhuman creature, neither man nor simply an animal, I could see your skin turning into stone for each blow I delivered… just who are you?"

"I… I am Kong, and remember this, if you want to end your life then fine by me but I won't kill you just because your 'human' tradition says I should, besides I'm not human so it shouldn't count for me but there is another option for you. Instead of death, continue living and improve your skills then come find me again then exact your revenge on the creature that caused you such shame."

Kong turned his back on the man and walked to the exit. He opened the stone door when the sudden appearance of a spear next to his head stuck on to the door; he turned around and smiled at the warrior.

"Kong, next time we meet, your head is mine. You are my rival so you better not die before I get to you!" announced Pantheon.

"I look forward to it and I'll be a lot stronger than I am now too."

* * *

(Disclaimer: I don't own Wukong or anything belonging to League of Legends, including characters and places etc.)

(Yeeeaaahhh... combined two chapters because... I got lazy...)


	3. The Master and the Student

I can reach the top! Chapter 3

Kong limped for hours still in the mountain's range, the large village where he had just fought the fierce Rakkor warrior, Pantheon, appeared nothing more than a speck in the distance. The surroundings gave no help for Kong, no trees with fruits, no rivers for water, just rock and bare earth, it was just like the time when he was in the Southern Wastes. The land was barren; he scanned the area to see if there are any human-like structures or weird shaped rocks like back then but no such luck. He held on to his staff, using it as a support to keep his body up, he could feel one of his legs giving up and the other was too numb from the cold, he wondered of what would happen if he just collapsed on the spot. Would he be saved? Ignored? Be thought of as a weakling? Or just merely just food for the other creatures in the area? Kong shook the thoughts out of his mind and continued onwards, how could he think of such things when he still had a rematch with that man and both promised to be stronger than before? Dying here would be a disgrace; one Kong wouldn't be able to live with even in death.

His fur still gave no protection from the cold mountain as he followed a strange looking path leading north, constantly shivering and sneezing, he didn't even have the strength to summon Nimbus, silently laughing at the thought of being able to escape quickly from this frostbitten hell if his cloud was here. He tried to stay optimistic as he could but not even closing his eyes and imagining the largest, juiciest peach in the world could stop the cold from interrupting his fantasy, he sighed in defeat and opened his eyes again. Another hour of painful limping he noticed something, he quickly stuck the staff on to the ground, climbed on top and using his tail as a support, lifted his whole body. Kong caught a glimpse at something in the distance, he wasn't sure what it was but it was the first thing besides rocks and bare earth in the place, it was if it was trying to draw him, almost like destiny.

"Hehe destiny, yeah right!" joked Kong.

He tried to run, as best as he could, to his object of desire and a few minutes later his eyes gleamed at the view: there were two fires, one had some kind of animal roasting on top, while another had a shaking metal container on top of the flames, several plants and herbs were in a bunch next to the container, on the left of the fire was at least half a dozen glass bottles holding a liquid that is unmistakeably water and more wood to keep the fire alive, in short, a mini paradise for Kong. It was as if someone from above was looking after his well-being after finishing the first of many hardships to come. His happiness was short lived when he noticed a man holding a strange looking sword, two rings attached on to the blade, with both hands, crossed legged, he was asleep from the continuous snoring but was still in an upright position, interesting and strange in Kong's eyes. He hid behind a large rock a few meters from the campsite and peeked over the rock, the man was still asleep and snoring loudly, undisturbed. Kong noticed the finer details of the sleeping man; the most prominent feature was the strange looking helmet he was wearing, there were no words for it except for one-of-a-kind, it made him look like some kind of insect, another intriguing individual, his clothes were very different from the Rakkor tribe, he wore little armour only consisting of shin guards, which also held two sheathed swords on each side, arm guards and his helmet which protected most of his head and neck area, underneath all that, his clothing was simple, a black robe with a black sash around his waist his whole attire was also lined in gold and his feet were wrapped in some kind of black material, the man's long beard and wrinkles near his mouth also indicated that he must've been quite old.

He cautiously crept around to the man's back, he looked pretty slow so stealing his food and water should be easy enough. Kong dropped his staff and charged in at full speed for the meat but as he got within inches of his target he felt his footing lost and his landed hard, face first. He looked back, the man was still asleep.

"Heavy sleeper, that sure was close." Kong said to himself.

"Indeed." answered an unfamiliar voice.

Kong quickly turned at the old man, he was still in the same position and still snoring but Kong felt uneasy. Still looking at the man, he crouched low, kept his guard up and inched his way to the food, he reached for it again but his hand was swatted away by the back of the sword. Kong jumped back as the man stood, massaging his neck and tilting it left and right making it pop.

"It's not nice to steal, especially from your elders, monkey." the man said, still sounding half-asleep.

"I follow by 'survival of the fittest'; I'm just taking something from a weaker creature to keep myself strong." Kong answered back smugly.

"Hoho, you think me to be weak? So young and so-"

The man's speech was cut off as he disappeared, Kong looked around quickly and ran to get his staff, he managed to get three steps before the man appeared again in front of him and suddenly sharp pains caused Kong's body to collapse. He noticed his body has been slashed in three different points at blinding speed. The man smiled and sat down in front of Kong's face.

"-Inexperienced." he finally said.

"H-How...?" Kong asked, baffled by the man's strength.

The man chuckled and only responded with, "Wuju."

"Wuju? Sounds like a fruit you could eat..." he joked weakly. "Also aren't you surprised? I'm a talking monkey."

"When you get to be as old as me, nothing surprises you these days."

Kong was hit with the blade's hilt on the side of his head; the man's expression was unamused. Kong looked away from the man, the man was far superior but Kong was an idiot who didn't know how to give up. He tried to stand, painful as it was but collapsed, he looked back at the man; expressionless. He tried to stand again, shaky at first but he found his feet again.

"Two seconds." he said and the man nodded.

Kong went back to grab his staff and returned to the man who had just finished stretching and readied into a stance, ready to attack. Kong slowed his breathing as he and the man charged at each other; strike after strike, Kong had managed to either parry or dodge the assault but not even his own attacks could hit him, easily manoeuvring around Kong's attacks and instantly attacking gaps in his defence. The bug-eyed man pulled back and channelled energy around his body, his sword noticeably glowing, it happened so fast as the man lunged at him and instinctively Kong's tail pulled his body back, he readied himself for another attack but the man simply smiled as he dropped his sword and applauded. Kong dropped his guard for a moment but it was enough for the old man to steal the staff off his hands, he jabbed the staff into Kong's abdomen forcing the monkey back down. The man offered his hand to Kong to stand back up; he accepted and returned the staff to the monkey.

"I see now," he said, nodding to himself.

"See what?" asked Kong, dusting himself off.

"You fight with nothing held back, admirable… but reckless. You have heart and guts and a decent amount of fighting knowledge already but it's your pride and your overconfidence that's your weakness. Tell me, what kind of man drops his guard when his opponent applauds him?" The man didn't wait for Kong's reply. "A dead man, that's what."

"Y-Yeah...well...I..." Kong answered back feebly.

The man looked at the monkey condescendingly and waited for Kong's response.

"S-So teach me! That Wuju stuff that you seem to know a lot about."

"Bah! The Wuju style requires discipline, patience and constant training and improvement. You have no discipline or patience; even now at this old age I am constantly improving my own skills yet you look like someone who will never improve and only seek to use the knowledge you gained for your own benefit. So why should I bother teaching it to you?" he asked rhetorically.

He was silent, waiting for Kong to respond again.

"Because I want to be the strongest warrior in the whole of Runeterra, to reach the top is my goal and I would be honoured to be thought by such a skilled man." Kong said, as he got down on his knees and bowed his head.

The man scratched his chin, smiling at the monkey's answer.

"Reach the top huh? You have a long way to go if you've been beaten by this old man."

"Yes, but isn't that the fun part of the journey? Once you reach the top there's nothing left but down so I plan on enjoying the view on my way up." he answered, grinning still bowed down.

The man could feel the passion to learn from the monkey, finally coming to a decision.

"I see, a fine answer. Very well, I shall teach you the secrets of Wuju for you to reach 'the top' but I have a condition of my own."

"A condition?"

"Yes, that after you have mastered Wuju, you will pass on my teachings to a student of your own as I will from now on."

"Yes of course!" he agreed enthusiastically.

"I am Yi and from now on I shall be your master."

"I'm Kong and-"

"Wukong." interrupted Yi.

"Excuse me?"

"My master changed my name long ago and the same goes for you, you are now Wukong. It means "awakening to emptiness"."

"Okay… what does_ that_ mean?"

Yi chuckled and pointed at Kong.

"It is something you must find out for yourself my naïve student."

Kong felt uneasy about his new master changing his name but at least it still had his original name so it didn't bother him as much.

"Okay then, thank you Master Yi. So when do we begin training?"

"I've been training and meditating here for months so right here is just fine."

"But you were asleep when I found you..."

"I. Was. Meditating." he said, each word full of authority. "But I suppose you're hungry so we shall start early in the morning for now eat and rest, your moves probably won't be as sloppy as the mess I've seen today."

'I guess it was destiny huh?' Kong thought to himself, looking up at the sky and thinking of what challenge awaited him tomorrow.


End file.
